This is a record that can no longer be called a left-handed victory. The struggles of Charlie Barnes, a fourth-year left-handed pitcher for the Lotte Giants, are suspect.

On the 23rd, Barnes started the game against the Hanwha Eagles at Sajik Stadium in Busan, pitching 5 innings, allowing 6 hits, 4 walks, recording 3 strikeouts, and giving up 6 runs (4 earned runs) before leaving the mound. This was his 4th loss of the season.

On that day, Barnes faced the Hanwha lineup, which has been on a hot streak with 7 consecutive wins. He showed poor form starting from the 1st inning. Of course, there are excuses for Barnes. He induced a ground ball out from leadoff hitter Hwang Young-mook, but a fielding error by second baseman Ko Seung-min began the crisis.

After that, a mishit single from Floriel resulted in a no-out 1st and 3rd inning crisis. It was a tangled flow for Barnes. He managed to induce a ground ball out from Moon Hyun-bin, and a precise throw to third by first baseman Na Seung-yeop allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief with one out and runners on 1st and 2nd.

However, from that point on, it was solely Barnes' responsibility. With one out and runners on 1st and 2nd, he got ahead in the count at 1 ball and 2 strikes against Noh Si-hwan, but allowed a go-ahead single to left field. After that, he walked Chae Eun-sung, creating a bases-loaded crisis with one out, then allowed Lee Jin-young a 2-RBI double to right, followed by a single to left from Lim Jong-chan and a sacrifice fly from Lee Jae-won, resulting in 5 runs in just the 1st inning.

In the 2nd inning as well, after one out, he allowed a double to right from Floriel. He managed to get Moon Hyun-bin out on a fly ball to left field but again gave up a timely hit to Noh Si-hwan, resulting in a total of 6 runs.

Fortunately, after allowing 6 runs in the 1st and 2nd innings, Barnes only allowed 4 walks through the 5th inning and did not allow any hits, preventing further scoring. By not collapsing any further, Barnes somehow provided the momentum to allow for a comeback, closing the gap to 4-6.

However, Barnes has been inconsistent this year. As a fourth-year veteran foreign player, he should be the ace that can be counted on, but the flow early in the season does not reflect that. On the 16th against Kiwoom, he pitched 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, 1 walk, striking out 11, and gave up 2 runs, but on this day, he was taken down by the Hanwha lineup. It's an unpredictable flow.

There were issues with errors, but an ace should be able to overcome such challenges on their own. The problem is that there have been many similar situations. In the opening game against LG, he also showed poor form, pitching 3 innings, allowing 8 hits (including 1 home run), 2 walks, 1 hit by pitch, striking out 2, and giving up 7 runs, as mishits and poorly directed balls against his defensive shifts occurred in the early innings, causing Barnes to collapse.

Furthermore, Barnes is leaving behind a record that can no longer label him as a left-handed victory. Early in his KBO debut in 2022, he showed supreme performance against left-handed batters, reminiscent of former Lotte foreign player Brooks Raley. He recorded a batting average against left-handed batters of .226 and a batting on-base plus slugging of .571 in his debut season in 2022. Against right-handed batters, the statistics were slightly higher at .262 with a .686 OPS.

In his second season in 2023, he was strong against left-handed batters with a batting average of .238 and an OPS of .602. Against right-handed batters, his performance somewhat improved, with a batting average of .282 and an OPS of .736.

However, this split pattern has reversed since last year. Barnes has now become a 'reverse split' pitcher. Last year, Barnes recorded a batting average against left-handed batters of .268 and an OPS of .706. Conversely, against right-handed batters, he ended with a batting average of .237 and OPS of .692. For the first time, his record against left-handed batters has worsened.

This year, the trend has become even more severe. His batting average against left-handed batters is a staggering .328, and his OPS is .822. Conversely, against right-handed batters, his batting average is only .243, and his OPS is .748. On this day as well, he allowed 2 hits and 1 walk to left-handed batter Floriel, creating a crisis. In the 1st inning, when he recorded his 5th run, he also allowed a timely hit to left-handed batter Lim Jong-chan.

As of this year, Barnes is the second most utilized pitcher in the league, having thrown 540⅔ innings over 4 seasons. He has faithfully fulfilled the role of an innings eater. However, the fatigue in his arm is unavoidable. Manager Kim Tae-hyung noted about Barnes in the early part of the season, "His velocity seems lower than last year." Also, given that he has thrown many innings, he is inevitably becoming familiar to KBO league batters. Other teams have also developed strategies to face him. This means that he is no longer the dominant left-handed victory pitcher.

The best-case scenario is for Barnes to return as a reliable pitcher, even if not to the level of a supreme left-handed victory pitcher. Barnes' dedication over the past three years cannot be overlooked. However, if the time of inconsistency continues to lengthen, Lotte may now have to make a decision.

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